Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as president on Sunday, marking a momentous shift to the far-right. His extremist policies and outrageous comments about minority groups have had some people refer to him as the Brazilian version of Donald Trump. And of his many troubling stances, Bolsonaro's decidedly anti-abortion views may impact Brazil's push to expand abortion rights.

As a candidate, Bolsonaro suggested that if he won the presidency, Brazil will adopt a policy similar to the Hyde Amendment, which outlaws American government dollars from funding abortion. (There's also a policy that prohibits American government dollars from going to funding abortion abroad called the Helms Amendment.)

Latin America's fight to legalise abortion: the key battlegrounds
After Argentina rejected a bill to allow abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, hopes of reform now rest elsewhere

Annie Kelly
Thu 9 Aug 2018

An estimated 6.5 million abortions take place across Latin America each year. Three-quarters of these procedures are unlawful, often performed in unsafe illegal clinics or at home.

Of 33 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, only Cuba, Uruguay and Guyana permit elective abortions. Women also have the right to choose in Mexico City. Elsewhere, however, the right to an abortion is severely restricted, with terminations often permitted in cases of rape, or if the pregnancy will endanger the life of the mother. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname all have a complete ban on abortion.

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s supreme court is considering decriminalizing abortion through the 12th week of pregnancy, stoking activists' hopes that the country could follow other Latin American nations in loosening abortion restrictions.

Hearings on the issue, which began Friday and continued on Monday, included testimony from dozens of doctors, specialists and religious leaders. Tensions flared in the days leading up to the hearings, with activists on both sides speaking out. Outside the supreme court on Friday, women donned red robes resembling those worn on the hit TV show, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in favor of decriminalization. Meanwhile, #AbortionisaCrime trended on Twitter, and churches sounded their bells in protest.

Brazil’s top court holds debate on decriminalizing abortion
Published on Aug 3, 2018

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday began public hearings on scrapping highly restrictive abortion laws that have pushed large numbers of women to seek clandestine procedures.

More than 50 representatives from health, religious, academic and non-governmental areas were testifying before the court in Brasilia in hearings due to continue Monday on whether to ease restrictions in Latin America’s biggest country.

Currently, abortions are only allowed in cases of rape, danger to the mother or if the fetus suffers the fatal disorder anencephaly.